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Accubrace Weathers The Storm

In the overnight hours of October 29, Sandy came ashore along the northeastern United States as a Category 1 hurricane, unleashing hurricane force winds extending 90 miles, tropical storm force winds extending nearly 1,000 miles, storm surges with waves up to 39.5' and extremely heavy rainfall.

All along the Mid-Atlantic coast, contractors monitored
weather reports, securing their jobsites as best they could, not knowing if their projects would make it through the predicted wrath expected with
the coming record storm.

Among these eastern seaboard projects were six sites where partially constructed buildings of Tilt-up construction were being braced with Dayton
Superior’s tilt-up braces anchored to our Accubrace helical ground anchors (HGAs). All of these projects were within range of suffering from the fury of the monster storm. Certainly, Dayton Superior and Accubrace systems are built for strength. The braces varied in length from 21' to 27' and were secured
by 7'-0" HGA, a connector and a 4'-0" Helical Extension for deeper installations, the HGAs can handle brace loads up to 12,000# SWL or 15,000# SWL with the extension.

Proof of Accubrace’s HGA strength was apparent just over a year earlier when the total bracing system proved a critical asset on numerous jobsites, withstanding the 70 mph winds and 90+ mph gusts of Hurricane Irene. But, with all reports on Hurricane Sandy warning of a storm significantly more massive in size and force, no one was certain what to expect. As the storm hit, the contractors for each of these six Accubrace projects could only wait until the threat had subsided to survey what toll Hurricane Sandy had actually taken on their respective job sites.

Yet, in each and every one of these locations, each and every Accubrace project weathered the storm. Not one failure was reported in the wake of the storm. Much of this is due, in addition to the proven strength of the Accubrace total bracing
system, to the stability offered by the installation of HGAs into the soil to support the wall braces. The HGA is set to an installed torque to attain the loads required of the steel braces that temporarily support the wall panels.